When there is an increasing number of fallacies in a workplace, the EHS management has to buckle up their seatbelt. They work round the clock to determine the reasons for what happened, when, where, and why. Plus, they need a root cause analysis of the situation. After all the hard work, they need to find a solution so the incident does not reoccur. And then they need to document everything in scrutiny for future references.

Doesn’t it sound daunting?

Well, we know it sounds daunting, but the tediousness cannot be expressed in words!

Therefore, when the organization’s EHS management takes so much pain in ensuring the workplace runs safely and securely, shouldn’t they be provided with tools to ease their business operations?

We are talking about Business Intelligence tools.

The tools that can source, analyze, filter, track, and make data effortlessly easy to understand. These tools help identify the history, geography, and science behind why events related to EHS (good and bad) happen!

Let us dig deeper into how Business Intelligence can transform EHS management.

EHS and Business Intelligence

Let us start with an example.

A certain kind of incompliance is taking place regularly. Let us assume it is the lack of wearing a helmet on site. You will need to know why, when, and where the frequency of this irresponsible behavior is. And for that, you must go through the Excel or manual records to know 

• Who entered the site?
• Were they wearing helmets at that time?
• What time is this act or irresponsibility occurring?
• Who is in charge at that time?
• Is the labor in-house or contractor-based?
• And More

Now imagine going through data and finding the reason for such behavior.

Therefore, Business Intelligence will source the data from your database and present the answers in the most visually appealing form before you. One click of the button lets you know when, where, why, and how the events occur. This comprehensive view of data ensures that safety practices are up to date and that the workplace complies with all necessary safety laws and regulations.

Sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and chemical must seek the help of Business Intelligence as these workplaces have massive rules, laws, and compliances to adhere to regarding safety. Also, they are responsible for a considerable number of employees (both in-house and contractor-based). 

Apart from collecting, analyzing, and visualizing EHS data in near/real-time and providing a comprehensive view of environmental and safety performance, the Business Intelligence tool has many other benefits, too.

We have put them together for you! Read on.

Benefits of BI in EHS Management

EHS management has evolved. It is more than filling Excel sheets, training programs, and signing compliance papers. EHS management has grown over the years. Organizations must be proactive in their EHS, ESG, and sustainability efforts. And for that, they require powerful business tools.

The integration of EHS management and business tools integration has several vital impacts.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

BI ensures that the organizations make decisions based on near/real-time. This, in turn, helps to identify trends, predict risks, and make informed decisions. The data-driven decision-making process also allows proper resource allocation. The decision-makers have intricate knowledge of where the much-needed investments are to be made and why.

Proactive Risk Management

Whether incident management or an Occupational Health safety system, BI tools provide the exact analysis. Therefore, instead of pondering the challenges, the tool gives a comprehensive and detailed view of data for proactive risk management.

Sustainability and Reporting

It is highly required that organizations switch to sustainable work operations. Initially, it was a social act, but now, EHS and ESG rules and regulations require organizations to adapt sustainability methods. And for this, Business Intelligence tools support automatic data collection and streamline the sustainability reporting process. This reporting process is crucial for meeting regulatory requirements and demonstrating corporate responsibility.

Efficiency, Cost Savings, and Continuous Improvement

Once you know the when, where, why, and how of the investments, resources, and time to make, resource optimization becomes easy. This eventually leads to enhanced efficiency, cost savings, and continuous improvement.

Conclusion

The historical context of EHS and ESG management is more than just basic compliance and safety. It has evolved to be a data-driven and proactive approach. And this approach must be fueled and propelled in the right direction with the help of Business Intelligence tools. 

BI, in collaboration with EHS, will empower organizations to manage EHS risks better, reduce carbon footprint, manage emissions, and foster a culture of positive EHS processes and practices.

If you are looking to visually represent your data for utilizing it in the best way, look no further. ASK EHS experts are here to guide you at every step of data management.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can Business Intelligence tools help in every aspect of EHS management?

Yes, right from compliance management to worker training, every data can be analyzed, accessed, and presented visually by Business Intelligence tools.

2. Can Business Intelligence tools help to mitigate incidents or reactively address them?

BI tools incorporated with EHS data can help to proactively reduce incidents and risks at a workplace. With the proper set of analyses, BI provides a proactive approach rather than a reactive one.

3. Are there privacy concerns while incorporating BI TOOLS for EHS management?

BI tools like Microsoft Power BI and others have the most updated safety and security features. These features get updated regularly. So, there must be minimal or no privacy concerns about the EHS data getting breached.